


One, The

by westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Episode Tag, Episode: s02e07 The Portland Trip, Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2000-12-01
Updated: 2000-12-01
Packaged: 2019-05-15 16:41:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14794184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist/pseuds/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist
Summary: A conversation between father and daughter leads to an interesting revelation





	One, The

**Author's Note:**

> A copy of this work was once archived at National Library, a part of the [ West Wing Fanfiction Central](https://fanlore.org/wiki/West_Wing_Fanfiction_Central), a West Wing fanfiction archive. More information about the Open Doors approved archive move can be found in the [announcement post](http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/8325).

The One by Donna

Disclaimer: All characters of "The West Wing" are property of Aaron Sorkin, NBC, et al. No profit is being derived from the use of the characters on the part of the author.

Category: General 

Rating: G 

Archive: Anytime, anywhere (just let me know where and when and give me credit) 

Summary: A conversation between father and daughter leads to an interesting revelation. 

Spoilers: "The Portland Trip"

 

The first thing he noticed when he entered the living room of the residence was the silence. No staff, no phones, just silence. The next thing he noticed was his youngest daughter sprawled across one of the couches. The book she had been reading had fallen to the floor and she was tangled in an afghan that her grandmother had made. Jed smiled. Zoey didn’t spend a lot of time in Jed and Abby’s room at the residence. He suspected that she had sat up waiting for Charlie, hoping he would follow her father upstairs.

Since Zoey and Charlie had been dating, Jed was often treated to Zoey’s visits to the White House. While he wasn’t leaping for joy at the seriousness of the relationship, he was grateful for the continuity and stability Charlie brought to her life. He was sharp, intelligent and from what Jed could see, he genuinely cared about the girl. This had been a terrible year for them, but somehow they had managed to find a way to come to terms with everything that had happened because of and in spite of their relationship. If Zoey had to date someone, he was pleased that Charlie was that someone.

Slowly, Jed walked over to where she lay sleeping. She looked so peaceful. He picked up the book and placed it on the table. Leaning down, he gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead. She began to stir, so he sat down in the chair next to her.

Zoey stretched, yawned and sat up. She blinked and said sleepily, "Hi Dad. How long have you been here?"

"Just a couple of minutes. What are you doing here?"

"I was waiting for you."

Jed arched his eyebrows. "Really? And here I thought I was the only politician in the family."

"Dad! Are you implying that I’m not being completely honest?"

"Nooo," Jed said with a grin. "I’m just saying that if a certain presidential aide had been accompanying me to the residence, I’m quite sure that I’d be on my way to bed instead of enjoying your company."

She smiled. "Okay. So I was hoping Charlie was coming up with you. You’ve been keeping him pretty busy lately. We hardly saw each other before you guys left for Portland."

"I know and I’m sorry about that, but it can’t be helped," He went over and sat next to her, wrapping his arms around her shoulders in a gentle hug.

"So, where is he?" Zoey asked.

"It was getting pretty late, so I sent him home." He felt her sigh, then added quickly, "If I had know you were here…"

"It’s okay." She snuggled closer to her father. They sat there for a few minutes, both relishing the rare opportunity to spend quality time for each other. ‘This is what I miss most,’ Jed thought to himself.

As the silence grew, Zoey started fidgeting, first twirling her hair in her fingers then picking at the afghan. Sensing her discomfort, he decided to open the door to see if she would talk. "So," he asked, "how’s everything with you."

"Everything’s fine."

"Really?"

"Yeah, Dad."

He waited for another minute and the fidgeting continued. "You want to talk about it?"

She shrugged. "It’s nothing. Really. I mean, there’s not much to tell. Not really." She was quiet again. Jed finally placed his hands over hers before she picked the afghan apart. She sighed again, then spoke softly. "I went out. Tonight. On a date. Well, not exactly a date. Just coffee."

"With whom?"

"This guy from my chemistry class. His name is Brian Peterson. He’s nice."

Jed was concerned. "Zoey? Is everything okay between you and Charlie?"

"Yes. No." She shook her head. "I mean, we had a pretty rough time after Rosslyn." Jed nodded, remembering those dark days. "It was really bad for a while, but we’re better now."

"So why did you go out with this Brian guy?"

"I don’t know. Boredom, curiosity. I’m not exactly sure. But it’s funny, the whole time I was with Brian, I was thinking about Charlie and missing him."

"I know the feeling," Jed replied. "Whenever your mother is away, I find myself thinking about where she is and what she’s doing and I can’t wait for her to come home."

"Where is Mom anyway?"

Jed hesitated. Where did Charlie tell him Abby went? "I think she’s speaking at a medical conference in New York or something like that." He chuckled. "Nice try, kiddo, but I still haven’t forgotten about you and Benny."

"Brian."

"Whatever."

"Do you think I should tell Charlie?"

"Are you going to go out with him again?"

"No."

"Then, no. But you need to ask yourself why you decided to go out with him in the first place. If there’s a problem in your relationship, you need to be honest with yourself and honest with Charlie and tell him how you really feel. If you can’t do that, then you have a real problem."

"I love him, Dad," Zoey said.

Jed sighed. "I believe you do, Zoey. And I also believe he loves you."

"Shouldn’t that be enough?"

"It would if this were a story being written by someone else instead of it being your life."

Zoey nodded then lapsed into silence. Finally, she asked, "How do you know if you’ve found the one?"

"The one?"

"Yeah, you know. The one you want to spend the rest of your life with." She felt her father tense up. "Relax, Dad, it’s just a question."

"Have you and Charlie talked about marriage?" he asked cautiously.

"Yeah, in that ‘maybe-someday’ kind of way."

"Oh." Jed let out the breath he hadn’t realized that he had been holding.

"We’re not ready. There’s school, his job - that means you - and his sister; there’s way too much going on right now for either of us to consider getting married."

"Well, I could always fire him," Jed said with a laugh.

"And you’d be lost without him. Besides, I don’t think Josh would be able to find anyone else to put with you." She felt a tug on her hair. "Hey!"

"Did I do that?"

"Ha ha. Seriously, Dad. How do you know when you’ve found the right person to marry?"

"Well I suppose if you don’t have to ask the question, then you’ve got your answer."

"Oh that helps a lot."

"What I mean is, when you meet someone, and you realize it’s someone you can’t live without, someone that can turn your life upside down, someone that you would be willing to do anything for, give up everything for, then you’ll know."

"Was it that way for you and Mom?"

Jed released Zoey and stood up and began pacing around the room. Finally he turned to face a puzzled Zoey. "There are eleven people in the world who know this. You’re going to be number twelve." He sat down and took her hands in his. "When I went to Notre Dame, I didn’t go to study economics."

"You didn’t?"

"No. I went to Notre Dame to study theology. I was thinking about becoming a priest."

Zoey’s eyes grew wide. "You? A priest? I guess I could see that. I’ve always wondered how you knew the Bible so well. So what happened?"

Jed smiled. "I met your mother."

Zoey broke into a broad grin. "That explains why Grandma Kate hates Mom!"

"She does not hate your mother!"

"Okay, she strongly dislikes her."

"That’s better."

Zoey shook her head in silence. ‘Just when I thought they couldn’t surprise me.’ "So are you going to tell me what happened?"

"Maybe someday. When you’re older." Zoey groaned and fell back on the couch. Jed couldn’t help but laugh. "In the meantime, what’s say we sneak down to the kitchen, grab some ice cream and watch some mediocre movies?"

"Cool! Can we watch ‘Spawn’?"

Jed winced. "Ugh. I hate that movie. That Martin Sheen is such a good actor. He’s wasted in that part."

"I don’t know, Dad. I think he looked pretty hot with that beard. Say, Dad, have you ever thought of growing a beard?"

"Yikes. Your mother would never let it happen." He stood up and pulled Zoey to her feet. "I’ve got a better idea. Let’s see ‘Grease’."

"Again?"

"Yeah. Now that Rizzo is pretty hot stuff!"

"You’d better not let Mom hear you say that!"

"You’d better not tell her."

"No problem." They headed for the door. "Mom’s going to be mad at us for eating up the ice cream."

"Nah. I’ll tell you another secret. She’s never mad, only jealous."

 

END

  


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